Freshman participant says sleep deprivation can lead to best material.

Hoover High drama students are preparing this week for their annual improvisation marathon in which dozens of students will spend 24 hours performing onstage beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.

Fourteen-year-old Hoover freshman Vivica Rush said some students will perform for a while and then sneak away for an hour or two to squeeze in some sleep before returning to the school to perform again. Regardless, she said, at all times during the 24-hour session, there will be students onstage keeping up the momentum.

Lush suggested that attendees could have the most fun Saturday afternoon, with just hours before the show's end because the students could exhibit their most delirious behavior then.

“It gets really crazy,” she said. “Everyone's sleep-deprived and that's usually when the best improv is.”

About 20 actors from the school's drama club will be onstage throughout the 24-hour period, telling childhood stories or engaging audience members as part of the comedy.